Warped
by The Lady Arturia
Summary: Teddy has always doted on James as an older brother should, but James has other ideas of the 'love' he wants to share with Teddy. Years pass but their feelings remain unchanged- James is still pining over a man who sees him as nothing more than a little brother. Years of bitterness and rejection lead to but one ending- and it isn't the happy kind. Warnings inside.


**Warning: May contain potential triggers, readers' discretion advised.**

* * *

**Warped**

* * *

_There's a scream from his bedroom and he's on his feet and up the stairs in an instant. He throws open the door and pauses a moment to take in the damage. He stretches out his arms, blindly feeling around through the cloud of darkness in his room. There's a strangled sob from his left and he kneels down slowly, reaching forward till he feels small hands grab onto him._

"_Jamie, it's me, it's __Teddy__, everything's alright now," he croons. The little boy crawls onto his lap and whimpers into his chest._

_James__ begins to cry and Teddy rocks back and forth, squinting through the darkness. He barely spots the bottle of __Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder__ lying beside the __vial of Wolfsbane__ he'd been allowed to take home and the __Pygmy Puff__ toy he'd bought Lily. _

'He must've been rummaging through my trunk,' _he thought._

"_It's OK, Jamie, come on, let's get out of here."_

_He carries the seven-year-old outside, shutting the door to his room and making a mental to note to remind his grandmother to fix a lock on it. James struggles in his arms and he puts the boy down, wiping the tears from his cheeks._

"_Don't tell," James whispers, his dark eyes wide with fear. _

"_I promise I won't," he replies, offering the boy a smile. James nods after a moment and sniffs._

"_But don't go snooping in my trunk again," he says, his tone stern. James nods hurriedly, his lesson with the darkness powder clearly learnt. "Alright then, let's go."_

_James looks around for a moment, as though confused about where he is, and then walks straight into the wall._

"_Jamie!" Teddy yells as the younger boy falls back, his eyes wide and fearful. _

_James lets out a frightened whimper and Teddy kneels down beside him, rubbing his forehead where he'd bruised it. The boy looks up at Teddy and his brows draw together in a frown._

'Something's not right.'

"_Jamie, hey," he says softly, trying to get the kid to look at him, but James is too busy rubbing his eyes. _

_Finally when Teddy manages to pull his hands away, James looks up at him and goes, "I can't see."_

_His heart jolts and he begins to panic. Picking up the boy, he runs down the stairs, calling out to his grandmother. _

"_I'm in here," comes the muffled reply and he staggers into the garden, his eyes burning._

_Andromeda takes one look at him and is on her feet in an instant, taking the crying James out of his arms and handing him to his mother._

"_Teddy," she starts softly but he waves his hands._

"_I swear I didn't even know I still had it in my bag," he says hurriedly as Ginny tries to pacify her wailing son._

"_Darkness Powder isn't good for children below the age of ten, Teddy, you know that," Harry says after listening to Teddy's panicked explanation. _

"_It's not life threatening," he continues after seeing the expression on Teddy's face, "but I suggest that you don't buy any more Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes until the kids are old enough."_

_He nods, completely shaken up as he watches Ginny show James her fingers and asks him to count them._

"_I can't see!" the boy wails. "It's all gone dark!"_

_Ginny and Harry have a hurried conversation and they take their leave, Harry assuring Teddy that George will have a remedy for James' temporary blindness._

_When they're gone, he turns to face the the furious expression his grandmother wears and blanches. "I swear, I didn't do it on purpose—"_

"_It's bad enough that you leave your things lying all over the place," she scolds, striding into the house and straight to the front door. _

_He asks her where she's going and she shoots him a look before saying, "I'm going to the shop down the street to buy one of those large, heavy locks."_

_He nods, saying that he meant for her to fix a lock to his door. _

"_The lock's for your trunk, not the door," she snaps, slamming the door shut behind her._

_Swallowing the lump in his throat, he stares at the door for so long that he barely registers when it opens again and his grandmother steps in with with a padlock in her hand and a scowl on her face._

(*)*(*)*(*)

He winced as his head snapped to the side, his cheek stinging from the slap.

"And that's for cheating on my sister."

Scoffing, he watched as the blonde turned on her heel and stormed away. He scratched his cheek idly, hardly feeling the pain anymore. Shrugging, he walked back to the Gryffindor Common Room, a numbing feeling of emotionlessness settling over him.

He'd barely stepped through the portrait hole, but Fred was there in an instant, a scowl on his face.

"I heard you cheated on Serena," he said icily and James smirked.

"Well, what can I say, she had it coming."

He gasped as his back collided with the wall, the air forced out of his lungs as he fell to his knees. Fred grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him up, his teeth bared.

"You know Serena's Roxy's best friend, you bastard," he snarled.

James grinned, making sure not to dodge the punch that came his way. He fell back against the armchairs around the fire, his vision blurring from the searing pain in his jaw.

"Nice punch," he rasped and Fred was on top of him in an instant, rearing back as he prepared to throw another punch at James.

"That's enough!"

Both boys froze at the familiar voice and James inhaled sharply as Fred was pulled off of him, wincing as he was forced to sit up. Blazing eyes watched him as Teddy stretched out his hand and helped James to his feet. James stared at his shoes, feeling light-headed, belatedly realising that Teddy was asking if he was OK.

"'M fine," he mumbled, pulling his hand away and walking towards the portrait hole.

"Mister Potter, we aren't done here," Teddy snapped and James only paused to look over his shoulder and sneer at the older male.

"Sorry, _Professor, _but I think I may have to go to the Hospital Wing after all."

He stumbled out of the portrait hole and down the stairs, his vision swimming. He'd only barely managed to reach the bottom without falling face first when someone grabbed his arm. Assuming it was Fred, he swore loudly and pushed the other person away, losing his footing in the process and almost falling over. Strong arms grabbed him around the waist and steadied him, intense eyes staring down at him.

"Fred may have punched you a little too hard," Teddy said, touching James' chin. The latter slapped his hand away, leaning against the railing and sighing.

"I'm fine," he snapped, trying to push past Teddy, but he was right—Fred _had _punched him a little too hard.

"No you're not, James," Teddy said quietly, a worried expression on his face.

James stared at the Metamorphmagus for a long moment, drinking in his neat appearance. His crisp robes and polished shoes, his neatly combed brown hair and his freshly groomed look—it irked James more than ever.

"So you heard about Serena," he said matter-of-factly.

Teddy shook his head sadly. "I thought you really liked her."

"I did," James said, looking away.

"So what changed, then—"

"It's none of your business," James snapped, cutting Teddy off and striding past him.

Teddy grabbed his arm again and they struggled for a bit until James let Teddy push him up against the wall.

"It _is _my business if two of _my _students from _my_ house are throwing punches at each other. Especially if they happen to be my little brothers."

"Well one of them wasn't throwing anything," James said through gritted teeth, his willpower fading away as he looked into Teddy's deeply sorrowful eyes, the word _brothers _echoing through his head.

"What ever happened to you, James," Teddy said quietly and James swallowed, his eyes burning.

"Why don't _you _tell _me," _he growled, shoving Teddy off him and walking away even as the latter continued to call after him.

He jogged down the winding hallways, barely registering the wind nipping at his bare arms, and he had just caught sight of the courtyard when someone grabbed his wrist.

"For Merlin's sake, Teddy," he started, but froze when he saw that it was Fred standing before him.

"I see you've come for more," he said icily but Fred only sighed and shook his head, a withdrawn expression on his face.

"How much longer do you plan on keeping up this—this ridiculous _act_," he said, throwing his arms out in frustration.

"I don't know what you're talking about," James said in a low voice, stepping back. Fred's eyes flashed.

James sighed and began to walk away when something hit his back. He paused, eyeing the twisted necklace lying on the stone ground, recognising it as the one he had given Serena on their one-year anniversary.

"I told Serena who you cheated on her with."

It was as though something within him _broke_, when he heard those words leave Fred's mouth. He lunged before he could even stop and process what the ginger had said, throwing both of them to the ground.

"How _dare _you," he screamed, punching Fred in the nose, "you had no _right!"_

"She deserved to know," Fred replied nasally as he pushed James off and pinched his bleeding nose. "And I thought it was high time you were honest with yourself, if not anyone else."

"This isn't about _me, _Fred, this is about—"

He broke off, unable to say the name of the person whose life he may as well have ruined forevermore. Fred had a look of intense understanding in his eyes as he slowly got to his feet.

"Lorcan will understand," he said quietly and James shook his head, a lump forming in his throat.

"How long—"

"What you _didn't_ know was that Lorcan was doing exactly what you were doing—except it was much easier for him because his relationship with Rose was a secret to begin with."

James' eyes widened. "Rose…"

"Weasley, our cousin, yes," Fred said in an endearing tone. "And it's been going on for a while, now."

"Does she—"

"She knows." Fred shook his head and sighed. "She's known for a fairly long time, I'm guessing, but considering it's her…"

James swallowed and stared at the floor. "Hugo's going to kill me," he whispered.

"James, this isn't about any of them. This is about you and whether or not you're willing to openly admit to who you are."

"You make it sound like I'm a criminal," he said sourly and Fred rolled his eyes.

"I don't need to make you sound like one when you do it so well all on your own."

James winced. "Ouch."

Fred ran his hand through his short, red hair and said softly, "The longer you run away from it, the harder it's going to get. When it's real, you cannot walk away, James."

He frowned, unsure of what exactly Fred was referring to, but the redhead jerked his chin and looked past James.

Closing his eyes, he swallowed thickly as hurried footsteps sounded down the hall. Sharing one final look with Fred, he turned around and watched as the jogging figure came to a stop a few feet away.

He inhaled deeply, his heart pounding in his chest as amber eyes watched him warily.

"Teddy, I…"

(*)*(*)*(*)

_He goes very still as the fireplace erupts with green flames and out steps Harry, a grim expression on his face. James moves closer to him and he lays a reassuring hand on the boy's head, although he's barely containing his own fear. Harry looks towards him for a moment and he starts to get hopeful that maybe he would be forgiven, but Harry looks away and walks towards the sofa._

"_She's fine," Ginny says when Harry asks how Lily—who was lying on the sofa, her head in __Albus's__ lap, passed out from having puked herself to exhaustion—was._

"_She looks exhausted," Harry murmurs as Ginny helps him out of his Auror's cloak. _

"_She is," Ginny replies as Harry kneels beside the sofa, stroking his nine-year-old son's head and kissing his seven-year-old daughter's cheek._

_Everyone stays quiet for a long minute as Harry continues to watch his little girl sleep. He finally stands up with a sigh and Teddy feels James go rigid behind him._

"_Jamie," Harry starts, but Teddy doesn't let him continue._

"_Harry, I swear it was an accident—"_

"_James, come here," Harry says, ignoring Teddy. The ten-year-old looks nervously up at Teddy and only when Teddy gives him a reassuring smile and nods, does he walk towards his father._

_Harry has a hushed conversation with James and then tells Ginny something. She leads James out of the room, leaving Teddy alone with Harry. _

"_James didn't do anything wrong," Teddy begins softly but Harry holds up a hand._

"_This is the second time," he says, and Teddy finally realises why he feels like Harry will never forgive him—he hasn't even looked his way since stepping out of the Floo. "That you've almost seriously injured one of my kids."_

_Harry sighs and Teddy swallows. He hates it when Harry's angry—mostly because, unlike most people, Harry doesn't yell when he's angry. He goes really quiet and that's much scarier than having to stand through shouting and screaming. Teddy knows how to deal with yelling but he doesn't know how to deal with Harry's silence._

"_I'm sorry," he whispers, his eyes burning. It's been seventeen years and in all that time, he's only seen Harry this angry once, maybe twice. "I was careless. One of my friends probably mixed the Puking Pastilles into the chocolates I bought for the kids without me knowing and James ended up feeding it to Lily. I swear I didn't—"_

"_I know, Teddy, there's no way you would hurt them on purpose," Harry says and he instantly calms down. Maybe he has a chance of being forgiven after all. "But I spoke to George just before coming here and he said that you placed a bulk order for __Skiving Snackboxes__ several weeks ago."_

_He blanches, his heart rate speeding up. "I didn't! I swear I—"_

"_Did one of your friends place the order in your name as a prank?" Harry asks, finally raising his eyes to look at Teddy. _

_Teddy swallows as he stares into Harry's intense, emerald eyes, feeling his hair go limp and change colour. Harry raises his eyebrows and Teddy shakes his head._

_ "I don't know. I didn't order them, I promise."_

_Harry watches Teddy for so long, without saying a single word, that he feels like he's never going to get a second chance again. He can feel his panic level rise and the more he tries to calm himself, the more he can't. He knows that Harry knows he would never hurt anyone at all, on purpose or by accident—especially not Harry or his kids, who he considers the closest thing he has to family. But he can't help but wonder if this may be it—if this is the last straw—if Harry would ever forgive him again—_

"_Teddy said he's sorry."_

_Both males look towards where Albus is watching them, wide-eyed, and Harry chuckles lightly. Walking over to Teddy, he reaches up to ruffle his hair and the boy stares at the floor, unsure of what had just happened._

"_Wipe that look off your face, Teddy, I forgive you."_

_He snaps his head up, overwhelming relief cascading over him like torrents of a waterfall. Harry smiles, the corners of his eyes crinkling. _

"_We all make mistakes. We're only human, after all," he says and Teddy opens his mouth to reply but James comes running into the room just then and throws himself into Teddy's arms._

"_I'm sorry, Teddy, I love you!" the boy yells and Harry laughs quietly as Lily begins to stir from all the noise._

"_We all do," Ginny says as she comes into the room and hands the kids an assortment of sweets from the lot Teddy had bought—Liquorice Wands, Chocolate Frogs, Sugar Quills, __Edible Dark Marks__, the works._

_He smiles as James offers him a Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean, popping it into his mouth and making a face. "Ugh, bogey flavoured."_

_James giggles happily as he chomps on a Liquorice Wand and as far as Teddy's concerned, all's right with the world._

(*)*(*)*(*)

He stormed down the hallway and threw open the door to Teddy's bedroom. There were startled yelps as Teddy and Victoire tried to cover themselves and preserve whatever little modesty they had left.

"James, get out!" Teddy yelled, his hair turning a bright red that rivalled the Weasleys' ginger locks.

James barely even paused before striding up to Victoire and grabbing her hand, stared at the ring on her finger.

"So it's true, then," he said in a strangled sort of voice, his breath catching against the lump in his throat.

He looked up and glanced from Victoire's confused expression to Teddy's uncertain one.

"James," Teddy said carefully but he just waved his hand.

"It's fine. I thought I would be the first to know, but I guess I was wrong. Anyway," he said, forcing a smile onto his face, "congratulations. I'm happy for you."

Victoire gave him an awkward smile although she kept glancing towards the door and Teddy nodded once, his wavering smile barely lighting up his now cerulean eyes.

"I guess I'll make myself scarce," James said, trying to sound as lively as possible, although he only felt exhausted.

He nodded at the two and quickly exited the room, pulling the door shut softly. Sighing, he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, counting the seconds till—

"Oh, you're here," Teddy said with a hint of surprise in his voice as he shut the door behind him and came to stand in front of James.

"Listen, I know it seemed like I may not have wanted to tell you, but I've been meaning to. It's just that—after what happened—"

Teddy broke off, his cheeks flushing ever so slightly. James couldn't help but smirk at that. Somehow, seeing that he had the power to elicit such a reaction from Teddy, even if it was at his own expense, still gave him the bitter pleasure of knowing that he could.

"James," Teddy sighed, his eyes turning into a coppery colour, "I'm sorry."

"Alright, fine, I forgive you. But really, it was embarrassing when Lily was being so hyper and I had absolutely no idea what she was going on about," James said with a shrug. He looked away and concentrated on the pale wallpaper, trying to erase Teddy's hurt face from memory.

"No, it's not about the engagement," Teddy started and James glanced at him sideways. "I mean, obviously I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about it, but I—"

"I'm telling you, it's fine," he said, chuckling at the torn expression on the older male's face. "In fact, I'm the one that's sorry for walking in on you like that. Absolutely no decency."

He scrunched up his nose and Teddy smiled slowly. "Who ever said you had any to begin with."

"Hey!"

Teddy laughed and ran a hand through his now turquoise hair.

It felt like he was being torn apart from the inside out and he swallowed thickly, trying not to throw up. He cleared his throat and dropped his gaze, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I'm sorry about…what I said to you."

There was a long silence that followed his confession and he finally dared to sneak a peek at Teddy—only to feel his heart clench painfully.

Teddy had a pained expression on his face. The same one he had gotten on that fateful day two years ago, when James had confessed his undying love for the older man. Teddy had been confused, at first, and replied with an, "I love you too," but when James had explained exactly what he had meant…

His mistake was probably that he told Teddy that the reason he'd cheated on his girlfriend of so many years was because of him. That he had only spent so long with her because he was trying to suppress his feelings and when he finally couldn't, he decided to get rid of them entirely.

Of course that never worked—James was honestly more disgusted with himself for cheating on Serena with Lorcan because he knew he felt nothing for either of them at that point.

The only one he loved, and had ever loved, had rejected him two years ago and was now marrying a woman that James could never replace.

"You both must be so happy," he said, blinking rapidly to dispel the burning in his eyes.

Teddy smiled, that heart-warming, gut-wrenching smile that showed off his single dimple and made James feel like ripping his hair out. Only Victoire could make Teddy smile like that. He would never be the one to stand on the receiving end of that smile. Never.

"We are," Teddy said, grinning broadly and looking mighty pleased with himself.

He forced a laugh and clapped Teddy on the shoulder. "Well, don't let me keep you. Off you go, then!"

Teddy laughed and stepped towards the door, pausing to look over his shoulder.

"Thanks James, I'm glad that I got to reconcile with my best man before the big day."

He stood staring straight ahead, fists clenched, lips spread in a tight smile. He belatedly realised that Teddy had already gone back into his bedroom—that there was no reason to force a smile, but he was frozen in shock.

Slowly turning on his heel, he left Teddy's flat and made his way to the street. He stood staring at the people and cars passing by him and it was only when someone ran into him and yelled in his ear that he moved.

Mechanically making his way to the café opposite the street, he pulled out his Muggle-phone and pressed the speed dial button. He placed the phone to his ear and listened to the monotonous ringtone as he sat at the farthest table. A waitress came up to him and asked him something but he only stared at her blankly till she frowned and walked away.

The dial tone stopped and Fred's voice came on instead. "Hello, James, where—"

He cut the call, feeling sick to his stomach. The waitress brought him a cup of coffee and offered him a sympathetic smile before walking away. He stared at the dark liquid, suddenly reminded of Teddy's eyes the day he told him he loved him in a way a brother shouldn't.

Sitting back, he tried to swallow past the huge lump in his throat, but couldn't. He stared at the beige tablecloth, tracing over the floral pattern with his finger, barely even registering that he was doing it.

He didn't know for how long he sat there, staring at his now cool cup of coffee, but when he looked up, it was to the sight of a freckled face and ginger hair.

"Merlin's beard, what the hell happened to you, you look awful! Come on, we're leaving."

Fred forced him to his feet, left some money on the table, and dragged him out of the café. He hardly even registered the walk from there to wherever it was Fred was taking him, his mind completely engrossed in remembering things that hurt him more than they should have.

"—mes, James!"

He started, glancing up at Fred as he handed him a cup of steaming tea. Taking the cup he placed it on the table and watched as Fred sat opposite him, looking exhausted.

"So, Teddy called me," Fred said and James straightened up, his heart racing. "And he told me he was worried about you."

"Oh," he murmured, gulping down the tea, barely feeling the burn on his tongue. Fred frowned.

"Mate, this has gone on too long. Watching you pine for something you can never have is heartbreaking, to be honest. It's high time you moved on. It's time you were happy, James."

He scoffed, fiddling with the frayed end of his sleeve, feeling like he was intoxicated, walking around in a daze. Fred sighed and sat back, watching James warily.

"I'm his best man, apparently," he finally said, and his voice sounded lifeless even to himself.

"James," Fred said softly but he only laughed, sniffing in a rather unmanly way and swiping at his tear-filled eyes.

"It's the most bitter, hateful sort of irony, this. The fact that I've got to stand right beside him and watch him seal away a lifetime's vows with another… I love Victoire, but I love him more and—"

He swallowed thickly, rising to his feet and staggering as he made his way to the door. Fred called after him, but he didn't stop. He had just stepped out of the door when Fred grabbed his arm, forcing him to look at the other.

"I loved him too, once," Fred said, a helpless expression on his face.

"Right."

"I really did. At least, I thought I did, because of how attached I was to him and I didn't adore anyone half as much as I did him."

"But," James prompted, sensing the unsaid continuation.

Fred's eyebrows pulled together in a frown and he shook his head sadly. "But it was too painful to pursue. I knew for a fact that it was a fruitless love and completely one-sided. I decided that I would rather force myself out of the unending misery than go after something I'd never get."

"I'm making a wild guess that that's the reason you got me to confess my feelings to him," James said softly and Fred smiled lopsidedly.

"Guilty as charged."

When James asked him why, Fred shrugged and said, "I thought at least one of us deserved the chance to say it. So that both of us could finally move on. It was a rather selfish whim, if I think about it now."

James shook his head and stepped out. "Thanks for the tea."

"James."

He looked over his shoulder and Fred gave him a sad, sympathetic smile. "Take care of yourself."

(*)*(*)

_He has just divested himself of his trunk, owl and trolley and is heading back to where his parents and the others are, when he spots a flash of turquoise. Grinning, he dodges around a family of four and makes a beeline towards the farthest pillar, excited to be able to see Teddy one last time before leaving._

"_Teddy! What're you doing—" _

_He stops abruptly as he reaches the pillar, finding that Teddy isn't alone. His jaw drops as he watches Teddy and Victoire in an intimate embrace, almost snogging each other's faces off. _

_He feels a pang in his chest at the realisation that Teddy isn't there for _him, _but for _her. _He isn't jealous, of course not. Everyone knows how madly in love Teddy and Victoire are. But he just sort of feels left out, now that Teddy's all about Victoire and would rather spend hours whispering with her than help him practice Quidditch. _

_They pull apart and Victoire giggles, causing Teddy to smile in a way he's never seen before—Teddy's never smiled like that when he's with _him. _He doesn't understand it, this feeling that Victoire is hogging Teddy all to herself and stealing him away. Not to mention, in a year's time they'd probably move in together, or something._

_They're snogging again and the scandalous news that he's seen Teddy and Victoire _snogging_ overweighs his temporary feeling of loss. He turns around and runs towards his parents, his heart thundering in his chest._

_He spots them with his Uncle Ron, Aunt Hermione, and Rose and Hugo and he grins, excited to see his cousins again._

"_Hey!"_

"_Oh, there he is," Ron says with a big smile and he gives his uncle a quick, one-armed, manly hug before turning to everybody else._

"_I just saw Teddy!" he says breathlessly, bouncing on the spot. "He's back there with Victoire—and guess what they're doing! _Snogging! _Teddy and Victoire!"_

_His mother rolls her eyes and Harry shakes his head. _

"_James, please tell me you didn't interrupt them," his mother says._

"_I asked him what he was doing—"_

"_You are so like Ron," Ginny says and he waves his arms impatiently._

"Our _Teddy! Teddy Lupin! Snogging _our _cousin Victoire!"_

_But no one's really paying much attention to him anymore. Lily's gushing on about how the two should get married and his dad's saying Teddy basically lives in their house anyway, so it wouldn't make much of a difference._

_He tries to get their attention back by saying he didn't mind sharing a room with Albus so Teddy could move in permanently, but his father brushes him off with a, "You and Al will share a room only when I decide to demolish the house."_

_Sulking, he crosses his arms, waiting for someone to pay attention to him again. When no one does, he spins on his heel and runs off, looking for Teddy again. Maybe this time he really _will _interrupt them._

_He spots Teddy standing a little away as Victoire talks to her parents and he runs up to him, a grin on his face._

"_Teddy!"_

"_James, hey! It's been a while!"_

"_Not really, you were home for supper yesterday!" he laughs and Teddy grins._

"_That's right, I nearly forgot. I see you're all set for school."_

"_Yeah! It'll be terrific! I'm going to try out for the team!"_

_Teddy's smile drops, then, and he looks guilty. "That's right, we never really got around to practicing much, this summer. Sorry about that."_

_He shakes his head, glad that Teddy's sorry about it. "It's no big deal, Dad and Uncle Ron helped when they were free."_

_Teddy looks like he wants to say something else but Victoire comes and pulls him away, acknowledging James with a quick, "Hi James!"_

_He waits, expecting Teddy to come back or at least say bye, but when the Metamorphmagus only glances his way, and turns back to the others, he feels another pang in his chest. Rubbing his neck awkwardly, he turns and makes his way towards the train as it lets out a loud hoot. _

_His parents and uncle and aunt hug him and tell him to be good—the usual—and he responds enthusiastically, trying to forget what had just happened. But as he boards the train, he catches sight of Teddy waving, and he starts to wave back before realising Teddy isn't waving at _him, _he's waving at _her. _He looks over his shoulder and sees Victoire there, blowing kisses at Teddy, and he feels sick to his stomach._

_He isn't jealous, well, not exactly, but he finds himself wishing that Teddy would pay as much attention to him as he did Victoire._

(*)*(*)*(*)

"Teddy it's nearly time and _he's still not here!"_

He cringed as Victoire threw down her bracelet and it bounced off of the table with a sharp clang.

"He'll be here any moment, Vic, I've been trying to reach him all morning."

"Well, try harder!"

She stormed out of the room and he sighed, massaging his temple and re-dialling James' Muggle-phone. It rang for a long time and went to voice mail—again. Frustrated, he paced up and down, starting to worry that something may have happened to James.

"Sorry I'm late, you won't _believe _the crowd at—Teddy, mate, everything alright—"

"No, everything is _not _alright, Fred! Where the hell is James! The wedding starts in twenty minutes and we don't have the rings!" Teddy yelled, cutting Fred off and snatching the bouquets from his arms.

Fred frowned and shook his head. "I checked on him two hours ago, Teddy, he was all suited up and ready to leave."

"Then he should be here! I swear, Fred, if this is his idea of a practical joke—"

"No, calm down. James would never do that. Let me go look for him."

Fred ran out of the room and he yelled in exasperation, kicking one of the several boxes lying around the room.

He paced for ten minutes longer, getting angrier by the minute, and just as he was preparing to Transfigure something into make-shift rings, his phone buzzed. Plucking it off the bed, he answered it hurriedly.

"James! Where the hell are—"

"Sorry Teddy, I don't think I can do this anymore."

He paused, the subdued tone of James' voice instantly quelling his anger and replacing it with worry. "James, hey, listen, it's fine. Just tell me where you are and—"

"You don't have to look for me. Fred has the rings, I slipped them into his pocket when he came over. Sorry I disappointed you on your important day."

His panic escalating, he rushed out of the room, desperately trying to find Harry or Albus. "James, you haven't disappointed me in the least. Listen to me, stop whatever you're doing and tell me where you are, I'm coming to get you right now."

He spotted Victoire and her parents standing at the front of the spacious hall and mouthed a 'Sorry' to her before turning the other way and rushing out. He heard multiple voices calling after him, but the only voice he wanted to hear right now was the lifeless one on the phone.

"Jamie, listen to me, don't do anything I wouldn't do—"

There was a short laugh from the other end and the sound of the wind. He skidded to a stop, his heart thundering in his chest.

"James, tell me where the hell you are this instant! I need you to come here right now, you hear me!"

There was no reply and he checked to see if the call was still connected. Running out of the hall they'd booked for the wedding, he spun around, desperately trying to find James. He had a feeling that the younger male was somewhere close by, he just didn't know where.

"I'm sorry, I forgot that I only exist when you need something."

There was a rattling sound and he suddenly realised where James was. Throwing his head back, he squinted as he tried to find what he was looking for. When he did, he yelled out, begging James to stop and not do something stupid.

"Everything I've always done has been stupid," James said with a bitter laugh.

He pointed to the roof of the tall building as Harry, Fred and Albus ran out. Harry and Albus immediately Disapparated.

"I lied about the rings. I kept yours. You'll be surprised to hear that it fits perfectly on my ring finger. How ironic, don't you think, that we're so similar, yet I was never able to give you what you wanted."

He saw Harry and Albus's figures appear on either side of the parapet atop which James was standing. He could hear them yelling, on the phone, his eyes burning.

"James, please, please just let us talk this through. We can get through this, I promise. We've always gotten through everything before."

James scoffed. "No, we haven't. I just let you think it was all OK because I couldn't see you so sad and miserable—although it did make me satisfied in a twisted sort of way."

"James—"

"I have always done anything you've ever asked me to do, Teddy. Always. But Teddy, I'm only human, and I bleed when I fall down."

He saw it as it happened. He watched it as though in slow motion. James' hand fell to his side, Harry and Albus reached up to hold onto him, but he Disapparated in that instant, reappearing mid-air.

And then he fell.

There were screams and shouts and people scrambling around, panicking, as they tried to catch James before he hit the ground.

He still had the phone pressed to his ear, unable to move, unable to do anything, rooted to the spot.

Someone cast a spell, but it bounced off the invisible shield around James. The rest of the Potter-Weasley clan were still rushing out, pulling their wands out, but he knew that none of them would reach James in time.

He watched as James slowly raised the phone to his ear and focused all his senses on the device pressed against his face as James spoke his final words.

"I love you, Teddy. I always have and I always will."

(*)*(*)

He remembers the time Fred and James had decided to study his Metamorphmagus abilities in order to create a variation of the Polyjuice Potion that allows the drinker to change their appearance at will for a limited period of time. He remembers how the two had holed themselves up in James' room for months, brewing various batches of the potion and experimenting with Teddy's hair, trying to see if his Metamorphmagus genes would affect the potion in any way.

He remembers it ending as a complete failure, with the back of the Potters' house burned to a crisp, and both James and Fred being grounded for months after that. James had still thought it would be an invention that would change lives, once it was perfected.

He smiles fondly at the memory as he reaches into his robes and pulls out a vial of colour-changing potion that he and Fred have created from the failed one. Kneeling, he places the vial atop the small pedestal made before the marble gravestone, a lump forming in his throat.

"Looks like you were right about it being a life-changing invention," he says softly as he caresses the smooth stone surface, running his fingers across the words engraved into it.

_James Sirius Potter_

_His Love Is Carved Into The Sands of Time_

* * *

**A/n: This was written for Round 5 of the Grand Battle Challenge hosted by Diagon Alley II [link in my profile]. Prompts are underlined as per the conditions of the challenge.**

**Word count: 6,367**

* * *

**Hope the transitions weren't too confusing.**

**Let me know your thoughts by leaving a review!**

**Lots of love~**

* * *

**Prompts:**

**Song:  
****Human by Christina Perri 5**

**Potions:  
****Polyjuice Potion 5  
****Wolfsbane 5 (You may choose one extra pairing prompt)**

**Pairings:  
****Teddy/Fred 5  
****Teddy/James 5  
****Teddy/Victoire 5 (You must choose at least one restriction prompt with this pairing)**

**Restrictions: Do not use any "?" in your story 2  
**

**Characters:  
Lorcan Scamander 3 (You may choose two dialogue prompts with him)  
Victoire Weasley 5  
Rose Weasley 2 (You may choose two pairing Prompts with her)  
****Albus Potter 5 (You may use one additional potion prompt if you choose him)**

**WWW:  
Edible Dark Marks 1  
****Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder 1  
****Pygmy Puff 1  
****Skiving Snackboxes 1**

**Dialogue****:  
"I'm sorry, I forgot that I only exist when you need something." 3  
"When it's real, you cannot walk away." 3**

**Total = 57**


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